


Shoot for the Moon

by Adaurora



Series: The Sun and the Moon [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, I'll add tags to this as I feel necessary, The gay you've all been waiting for is finally here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 00:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4645005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adaurora/pseuds/Adaurora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Even if you miss, the Inkstrike's gotta land somewhere, right? Er, wait, I don't think that's right..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

     Pixel had always grown up feeling like she could do anything. Ever since she was little, anything she wanted to try seemed to come naturally. She received good grades, excelled beyond her peers, and had quite a few friends. Even at the age of 12 she was already able to take her human form. Of course, she wasn't allowed to participate in turf wars until the age of 14 as a safety precaution, but it still made her feel proud of herself regardless.

     At the age of 13, her life took a sudden turn. Both of her parents left her, packing up their belongings and leaving her alone. Looking back, she realizes it should have been obvious. There had been nights where her father wouldn't even return, and others where her mother would be up late on the phone, cursing about something she couldn't yet understand. Sometimes there were arguments that would wake her up, but she was too afraid to climb out of bed to ask what was wrong. So she clung to the blankets and hoped that whatever was wrong could be talked out. They could both talk things out and everything would be okay, right?

     Well, turned out she was wrong.

     They both left, leaving the city they called home. Pixel ended up moving in with her aunt, who was very kind to her. She didn't have much money, but she did have a small place in Flounder Heights that they shared. Despite that, the sudden change left Pixel reserved and quiet, rather than social and amiable like she used to be. When things didn't go her way she started to get frustrated, rather than determined to overcome it like she used to. Pixel wasn't sure what frustrated her more: when things didn't go as expected, or the fact that it bothered her.

* * *

     Pixel stared up at the Inkopolis Tower for a few moments before sighing. She had been allowed to participate in Turf Wars for a few months now, having turned 14 recently. She wanted to like it, really. All the inklings her age loved playing Turf Wars, but she wasn't any good at it. She was almost always placed at the bottom of the scoring, and was always splatted more than she could splat any other player. She started considering leaving and going home when she received a text on her phone.

      _"Hey squiddo just wanted to wish you luck today and HAVE FUN!!"_

     It was Aunt Jenn. Pixel smiled a little bit. She didn't know that Pixel struggled with Turf Wars just like she did with everything else, but she still sent messages of encouragement to her anyway.

      _"Thanks, I'll see you home for dinner"_

     She pocketed her phone and let out an annoyed huff. Knowing she couldn't turn back now that her aunt was expecting her to play, she walked towards Booyah Base. Pixel wasn't interested in buying clothes today, she was actually quite proud of the outfit she was sporting. Fake contacts over sharp yellow eyes, an orange cardigan and a pair of moto boots. Walking through the door to Ammo Knights, she was greeted by Sheldon's usual "Hello, hello!" She browsed the shop for a bit and ended up purchasing a Kelp Splat Charger.

     "I've seen a lot of inklings use this pretty well, maybe I can give it a shot, too." She said under her breath, walking towards Inkopolis Tower. The current stages in rotation were Urchin Underpass and the Kelp Dome. She joined a group of seven inklings who were waiting for an eighth person and stood quietly by herself, looking over everyone while waiting for her mach to begin. She was able to spot a Splattershot Jr., an E-Liter 3K, a Slosher, a Krak-On Splat Roller, an Aerospray MG, a Sploosh-o-matic, and an N-ZAP '89. Pixel clenched her teeth together as she looked among everyone. They all looked much more confident with their own weapons than she felt with hers. She could only take a deep breath in and let it out slowly as she waited for the match to start. 

* * *

     Of course she would end up crying by herself in the middle of a Turf War, hiding behind one of the small trees as she sat on the ground. She didn't want to be here anymore. It was her fourth battle with these players and they had all figured out by now that she wasn't a good teammate.

      _"Why do you keep trying? You're no good. Let someone who knows what they're doing play instead." the E-Liter user said to her last match before splatting her, laughing as he did._

      Pixel wanted to be angry with him, but he was right. "I don't know how Turf Wars works, I always get myself splatted but I can't seem to get anyone else. I'm not pulling my weight at all..." She couldn't help when her eyes welled up even more and she clenched her teeth, trying to stop crying. "Look at me, know I'm sitting here all alone, crying over the smallest thing. Pixel, you really are pathetic."

     She didn't move as she heard someone coming towards her. She had been splatted four times already, a fifth wouldn't change much. And who knows, maybe it would give her an excuse to go mope around by the spawn point. Quicker than she could register, a purple inkling using the Slosher came around the corner.

     "Ha- oh! Hey, are you okay?" The inkling lowered her weapon, looking down at Pixel with a confused look on her face.

     Pixel blinked at her for a moment, bringing her arm up to wipe the tears off her face before saying, "Uh, are you talking to me?"

     "Yes, you!" She responded. The inkling let some of her own ink out of her Slosher over the pink ink around Pixel, sitting down in front of her and pointing towards her face, "You're crying. What's wrong?"

     "I..." Pixel sighed. Was she really about to tell this inkling why she's upset? She would probably just make fun of her. "You're going to think it's unimportant."

     "What? No, no way. I wanna know what happened, no matter how small it is." Pixel shot her a look, not believing what she said. "Okay, how about instead we go grab lunch together so we don't have to talk about it in the middle of a game?"

     "Uh..." Pixel thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Sure, that sounds nice. You can splat me now if you want."

     "Huh? I'm not going to splat you. Not while you're clearly upset about something. I'm gonna stay with you until the game ends." The girl moved to sit next to Pixel, smiling as she turned to face her, "By the way, my name is Jack."

     "Pixel." she said simply, looking at her and giving her a small smile.

* * *

     "So, wait," Jack started, crumpling her trash into a ball within her hands, "lately you feel like you can't play Turf Wars, so you tried to buy a new weapon, and the others were giving you a hard time about it? That's why you were crying?"

     "Y-yeah." Pixel stuttered, watching Jack throw away her trash and feeling nervous. She couldn't tell if Jack was upset with her or the others. "I know it's-"

     "That's totally unfair of them!" She said, sitting back at the table. "We all started somewhere, and we all try new things! It's not fair of them to make fun of you like that at all."

     Pixel blinked at her. "You don't think I'm pathetic for crying over it?"

     "What? Of course not, Pixel." Jack reached across the table and placed her hand over Pixel's. "I think you just have to keep trying. Maybe I could even help you. Teach you some tricks, find a weapon that suits your playstyle." Jack's face flushed and she quickly pulled her hand away, looking away as she added, "I mean if that's okay with you?."

     Pixel thought for a moment. Jack didn't seem to think anything bad of her for getting upset. She thought that everyone viewed it as pathetic, but maybe she was being too hard on herself. Smiling as she nodded, "Sure! That would be really awesome, Jack."

     "Awesome! We can start tomorrow, I would help today but I have to go home soon. My parents worry about me being late and all. Oh, wait!" She turned around, digging in her bag for her phone. "Let's exchange numbers, we can text each other later."

     After they had exchanged numbers, Jack ran off with a quick "Bye, Pixel," leaving Pixel by herself in the café. Sighing, she stood up after a while, throwing her own trash away and walking out herself. She decided to head home, since she would rather wait until Jack could teach her some tips about Turf War before trying again.

     Pixel smiled as she made the trip back to her aunt's apartment. She definitely had a story for her today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this may or may not be something I continue. I'd really like to continue it, but that may not end up happening, so for now, just take this!
> 
> I've fallen so deep into Splatoon it's taking over my life.


	2. Chapter 2

     Being around Jack was so easy, Pixel realized. They grew closer over the following few weeks, texting each other frequently when they weren't playing Turf War together. Her upbeat nature was contagious, and she couldn't deny it. Jack made her smile to herself a lot, and she felt embarrassed whenever she caught herself. Everyone around knew Pixel as a withdrawn, shy girl. How would she be able to tell anyone she made a friend that made her happy? Anyone would tease her over it, "Look, the shy girl finally made a friend! Can you believe it?"

     ...Okay, so maybe that might not happen. She wasn't about to take that chance, though.

     "Pixel," and then she jumped, shoulders tensing for a moment causing her to drop her phone, landing on the floor with a soft thump against the carpet. "Whoa, sorry," Jenn started, raising her hands up in defense. "I didn't mean to scare you, but I tried knocking, and you didn't respond. Are you alright?"

     "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just texting a friend, that's all." Pixel said, giving her aunt a half-smile as she looked up. "I just got distracted is all."

     "Who is this friend of yours?" Jenn asked, leaning so her left arm was resting on the doorknob while leaning the right side of her body on the frame. "I don't mean to pry, it's just nice to see that you have a good friend to talk to. I think you've mentioned them once or twice, but I still don't know anything about them."

     Pixel paused for a second before starting, "Her name is Jack, and she's really good at Turf Wars. She's fun to talk to and really nice," and Pixel stopped her explanation there. How do you really describe a friend to someone? Her sentence was left hanging, and she scrambled to find something else to say. "We just text sometimes when we're not playing in a Turf War together."

     "Well, why don't you invite her over? She could spend the night, or just come over for lunch or dinner if she can't stay the whole night." her aunt looked at her as Pixel thought it over. She had definitely wanted to hang out with Jack other than their usual Turf War sessions, when they always tried out new weapons and grabbed something to eat afterwards.

     "Hm... yeah. Yeah! Alright, I'll ask. When should I ask her to come over, though?" 

     Her aunt simply shrugged and said "Whenever is fine by me. Even if I'm not home, I trust you enough to leave you and a friend alone. Though you know I'm always back from work by the time it's dark." Pixel nodded, reaching over to pick up her phone from her side. It wasn't there, and she was confused for a quick second before remembering she dropped it on the floor. She bent forward to pick it up, sitting back up and unlocking the squid shaped cell.

     "Now what was I..." her aunt mumbled, "Oh yeah. I came in here to tell you I'm going to go to bed earlier than usual tonight. I have some errands to run tomorrow morning before work."

     "Okay, I'll let you know what Jack says in the morning. If you're not here I'll just text you what she says." She said, not shifting her focus away from her phone as she pulled up her messages with Jack.

     "Sounds good. Goodnight, Pixel."

     "Goodnight Jenn." And with that, the door to her bedroom was closed.

* * *

       She forgot how dark it was earlier, since the door had been closed before her aunt came in. She had turned all the lights off and she was only paying attention to her phone, so when the door had opened, the hallway lights came in. But now her room was dark again, and she started to feel tired herself.

     She changed into some lighter clothes and settled into bed, pulling up her phone again to text Jack.

      _"Hey are you still up"_

     A response came pretty quickly, _"Yeah! what's up?"_

_"My aunt wanted to know if you wanted to come over sometime, she said you could spend the night if you wanted and if you can't you can just come over for dinner or lunch?"_

The question mark made it sound less like a statement and more like, well, a question. It was a typo Pixel had made, but it sounded more fitting for the tone of the message anyway, so she sent it anyway. She waited a few more minutes before a response came through.

      _"That sounds fun! when?"_

 _"Pretty much whenever"_ Another wait before the next reply. Maybe she was asking her parents? Pixel couldn't help but think about that, Jack didn't talk much about her home life. 

_"What about tomorrow? we can go play more turf tomorrow first. ooo and maybe we can go shopping too! then later to your place for the sleepover?"_

_"Yep. That sounds good, I'll let Aunt Jenn know tomorrow"_

_"Awesome!! i can't wait! :D"_

Before Pixel knew it, she was jolted out of her light sleeping by buzzing. She had meant to reply, but she most have dozed, because the phone was still in her hands and everything.

      _"It's getting late, so I'm going to go to bed soon too. i bet you were falling alseep too"_

 _"Was not!"_ she replied, though her body was obviously saying otherwise, her eyes struggling to stay open as she stared at the  bright screen.

 _"You totally were! XP"_ and Pixel could only smile at that. 

      _"Fiiiine, you caught me. Go to sleep already"_

_"I am! and you should do the same. goodnight!!! ;D"_

_"Goodnight Jack !"_

She put her phone into sleepmode and set it on her side table. She shifted onto her side, staring at the wall. Getting to see Jack tomorrow for a sleepover... she smiled really wide. It was an indescribable feeling, light but twisting at the same time. She knew it was a good feeling all the same.

     Pixel closed her eyes and let herself drift to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I decided to add something to this. With college starting for me I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this, but I already have in mind what I want to be in the next chapter. So I'll try to get that done when I can. No promises on when though, so I hope this is fine for now.


	3. Chapter 3

     Why can't I breathe? Oh my god, I can't breathe, I can't breathe I can't- her train of thought was interrupted when she finally managed to inhale with a rough gasp. Sitting up, Pixel let herself inhale and exhale slowly, trying to steady her breathing. She slowly became aware of the tears in her eyes, rubbing them with the palm of her hand and moving it to clutch the blanket over her. The blanket was soft and warm. She pulled it over herself a little more, letting it rest on top of her lap. "Did I end up sleeping on my back again?" she said out loud, but Pixel already knew that had to be what happened.

     She only ever found trouble breathing in her sleep whenever she ended up on her back. This problem has happened in the past, even when she was young, but it was always brushed aside by her parents. Once she started staying with her aunt though, Pixel was taken to a doctor almost immediately. They were told that it only seemed to be a problem when she slept facing upward, and to try sleeping on her side instead. Pixel didn't really understand why it worked, but it did. Sleeping on her side turned out to be comfier, anyway. Now the only times she ever ended up on her back seemed to be when she had a bad dream, the shock of not being able to breathe was not fun right after bad thoughts and memories had plagued her in her sleep. "Was that it?" she asked out loud again, "Did I have a bad dream?"

     She couldn't remember anything, so she wasn't sure. She didn't always remember her nightmares, but she almost always felt the mixed feelings afterward. Sadness, anger, fear, betrayal, hurt. She didn't feel like that now, though. Sure, I was completely terrified because I couldn't breathe, but that's not new... her thoughts ended with a sigh. Her head turned out to the window next to her bed, but there wasn't much to see past the light rain that tapped against the window. Pixel still knew what was there, though. She could navigate the paths down there with her eyes closed. Living in the middle of an area that Turf Wars happen in will do that to anyone.

     The soft sounds of rain eased her mind as she pulled one of her pillows into her arms and hugged it for security. Settling back into a lying position, Pixel pulled the blankets over her shoulders and tightened her hold on the pillow drawing it closer to her body. Pixel closed her eyes and relaxed into bed.

     If it had been a bad dream, she was glad she didn't remember it.

* * *

     Pixel woke up much better than she had before in the middle of the night. She was still sleepy, but she knew she had to meet up with Jack for the day, so she made haste pocketing some of the money she had made from Turf War and dressed as quickly as she could, looking over her outfit in the mirror once she was done. She once again had her fake eye contacts in, so she still had ability boosts without wearing an actual hat. The white anchor tee she quickly put on balanced out her blue tentacles from the contrasting strapping reds she had on. Not that she was going to be blue the entire day, but it was still nice.

     She decided not to take a weapon with her, their latest attempt at finding a weapon didn't end up too well. Jack had suggested the Krak-On Roller last time, but Pixel felt too vulnerable to be comfortable using it. Aside from that, the first time she tried to use the Kraken special, she didn't know you had to jump to splat the enemy, and felt really embarrassed when she was the one who ended up getting splatted. The second time she activated it she chased after an enemy player, knowing how the special worked this time. Except the player was over a grate, and she found herself falling straight through it, landing straight in the water and drowning. Though she's sure she knows everything there is to know about the Kraken special now, she still didn't like the weapon overall.

     After making a quick mental checklist of everything she needed and making sure she brought everything, she packed backpack and left the apartment, locking the door behind her. Just after she boarded the train and took a seat, she felt a buzz. Pixel shuffled through her bag for her phone, moving keys and stray paper aside before finding it and pulling it out.

      _"Yo pixel where're you at?"_ It was from Jack, of course.

      _"I'm on the train right now. I shouldn't be too much longer"_ and Pixel really hoped not, because she always felt awkward on the train by herself. Almost everyone else on the trip had friends with them, someone to talk to. She just passed the time by listening to music or playing a quick game.

      _"Awesome. i'll be outside booyah base by the vending machine, and then we can go shopping before we grab a locker and play"_

      _"Sounds good, I'll let my aunt know you're coming over. ttyl"_

      _"see ya soon!"_

     With Jack's last reply, Pixel switched tabs to text her aunt, asking if it was alright for Jack to come over today for dinner and a sleepover. Since she was at work, she probably wouldn't be able to reply until closer to lunch time. The train was pulling into the station anyway, so she quickly put the phone back in her bag and stood up, waiting for the initial crowd of squids to clear out before exiting herself. The light rain from last night continued, but it wasn't heavy enough to cancel Turf Wars for the day. She inhaled, breathing in the air of Inkopolis. It wasn't exactly fresh, the stale city air mixed with the scent of rain, but the smell was... familiar. That's the best way she could describe it.

     She strolled past many other inklings, some talking in groups, some pairs sitting together, and the occasional inkling standing around looking cool. Though she enjoyed the rain herself, she was surprised at the amount of inklings who were standing around in the rain rather than the cover of Inkopolis Tower. Before getting to the vending machine Jack mentioned, she was startled by a loud "Booyah!" from a group ahead of her.

     There was a shorter inkling with orange hair let down in front of the arcade game smiling. Judging by the way the blue inkling next to her was posed, hands clenched and grin wider than hers, he must have been the one to shout booyah. There was a green squid on his shoulders too, which she thought was somewhat odd, but she'd seen other inklings move through the Inkopolis Plaza as squids all the time. They looked like they were having fun, though, so she couldn't say anything.

     Walking past the group of three, she cut the corner and saw Jack leaning on the vending machine, looking down at her phone with headbuds in her ears. Pixel froze for a moment, just staring at her. Jack was wearing her pilot goggles again, unsurprisingly. She loved them from the moment she saw them in Cooler Heads and bought them immediately. The blue flannel shirt was new, but it looked nice. The pro trail boots she was wearing were, also unsurprisingly, untied, the laces lying limp on the ground under her feet. Those clothes looked really nice on her.

     "Oh, Pixel!" she jumped at the sound, looking back up at Jack. How long had she been staring? She hoped not long, that would be embarrassing. She really hadn't meant to stare. Jack just kept smiling though, removing the earbuds and putting them in her own bag. Pixel couldn't help but smile back. "You finally made it! Here, catch." Jack tossed a bottle at Pixel, and she reached out to catch it, caught off guard by how sudden that was. Managing to catch it in one hand, she sighed, glad it hadn't hit her in the face. Or anyone else, for that matter. Jack took a step forward, away from the vending machine. "Your reflexes are getting better! I didn't know what you like, so I just picked what I usually get. Hope it's alright."

     Pixel looked over the bottle. It looked like water, but the label said it was flavored with orange. "Oh, thanks. I don't have these very often but I do like them."

     Jack smiled and nodded, reaching into her own bag to pull out her own. It looked mostly empty, and she drank what was left before pushing it into the trashcan without even looking at it. "Hey, your backpack looks kinda light, did you bring a weapon?"

     Pixel shook her head while she drank some of the water, lowering it before she spoke, "Nah. The Krak-On didn't really work out for me last time, and since we're going shopping before we play, I figured I'd just pick one up?" Her sentence ended more like a question, because she wasn't sure what she was actually going to buy. Playing with Jack was always fun, but she still felt like she was always dragging everyone down. She wanted to pick out a weapon but she had no idea what she wanted.

     "Well, that works out then, because I actually have something in mind. If you're ready to go, that is."

     "Ready whenever you are, Jack." Pixel opened up her bag and placed the bottle inside, zipping it up as she followed Jack's lead.

* * *

     The only thing Jack bought during their clothes shopping was a red flannel shirt, which she said looked nicer than the blue one she had been wearing just earlier. Pixel bought a pair of red hi-tops and a squid-pattern waistcoat for herself. After she walked out of the changing room she folded up her other clothes and packed them in the bag.

     "Hey Jack, are we going to Ammo Knights now? I wanna see what this new weapon is." she asked, excited to see what Jack had in mind this time.

     "Sure! But once we get in you have to close your eyes before you get it." She said.

     "Awwww why can't I see?" Pixel said, crossing her arms and looking over at her friend.

     "Because it's a surprise and I'm buying." Jack shot back, a playful smile covering her face.

     "Fine," Pixel raised her arms in surrender, "why do you always buy the weapons for me though?"

     Jack was silent before saying, "Because I'm the one who suggests the weapons and I don't want you spending money on something you're not going to enjoy." Pixel was about to say something back but Jack spoke before she could, "Seriously, it's fine, I don't mind. I like buying things for people I care about. It makes me happy."

     Hearing those words made Pixel's heart jump for a moment. She knew Jack cared about her, they were friends, best friends even, of course they cared about each other. But hearing her say that out loud made Pixel feel happy.

     "Ah, hey, we're here. Close your eyes, Pix." Pixel rolled her eyes but nodded, closing them as Jack held her hand and led her inside the small weapons shop.

     "Hello, hello!" She heard when they walked in, knowing that Sheldon had already seen them. "What brings you two here today?"

     "Hey Sheldon," Jack started, letting go of Pixel's hand to walk away. "I'm here to buy a weapon for my friend. It's a surprise, so no weapon blurb this time, please. I already know what I want." Pixel heard Jack's footsteps on the hard floor. "There, that one." Pixel felt awkward standing around with her eyes closed while she listened to Jack buy the weapon from Sheldon. She heard Jack walk towards her, taking her hand again before saying, "Hey, keep your eyes closed, but we're gonna go test it out, so follow me."

     Jack led her through the back door of Ammo Knights that led to the testing area, and Pixel didn't have to open her eyes to know that they were outside. The rain fell on her face and the low winds brushed past her face. "Okay, now... open your eyes!" Pixel opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the light. When her focus returned she looked at the weapon in Jack's hands in front of her.

     "An Inkbrush?" Pixel asked, tilting her head while looking at it.

     "Not just an Inkbrush, an Inkbrush Nouveau!" Jack corrected, standing proudly with it. "They aren't the most common weapon, but when used right they can be seriously powerful. I've been thinking about it, you said you like to be fast, and what's faster than an Inkbrush!"

     Pixel thought about it. Inkbrushes were very fast, that was true, but she had seen how Inkbrushes on commercials before, they didn't look very good at inking turf or splatting enemy players. "Uh, I can try it, but I'm not sure how well I can use it."

     "I didn't think Inkbrushes were very good until a few days ago, actually. I was playing Turf for a while and this one player who stayed in the lobby for a while was really good at using it. Sometimes I would just be splatted out of nowhere and I didn't even know what hit me until it was too late! Other times I'd see him and try to get him back for what he did, and he just ran off! I know he probably has a lot of practice, but..." she looked over at Pixel, giving her a smile. "I have a feeling about this one, Pixel."

     Pixel nodded, taking the weapon from Jack's hands. She strapped on her ink tank, letting it fill up completely, and she charged straight at the squid dummy, running with all the power she could straight at the inflatable squid. The brush collided with the balloon and she bounced back, almost losing her balance. The dummy had a very small amount of ink on it, but otherwise it looked completely unharmed.

     "Here," Jack started, walking in front of Pixel. "Hold it up in front of you rather than on the ground." She lifted it up, glad it wasn't as heavy as a regular roller. "Okay, now instead of ramming into it like that, just kind of... swish it around like this," Jack said waving her arms around wildly. She took a few steps back when the ink on the balloon disappeared. Holding it in her hands, Pixel tightened her grip on the handle, and swung it as hard as she could in front of the dummy. It popped after three solid hits.

     "Whoa... it popped. It popped!" Pixel exclaimed, smiling widely.

     "Heck yeah it did!" Jack said back, running forward to high five Pixel. She raised her hand high to meet Jack's hand and they clapped their hands together, then quickly withdrew them. "That... kind of hurt, agh."

     "Yeah, it kinda did," Pixel laughed. "But we have the best high fives."

     "We do!" Jack swung her arm over Pixel's shoulder, "Now let's go play some turf before this rain gets any worse."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I wanted to continue it and (a very long time later) here it is! I do want to throw out there that the breathing thing in the beginning is from my own experiences. That happens to me when I end up sleeping on my back. Also, I don't believe rain or water is harmful to inklings, I just think they can't swim.


	4. Chapter 4

     Jack and Pixel chatted excitedly as they waited for the lobby to fill up with players. Jack twirled her Slosher on her finger and Pixel had her Inkbrush Nouveau swung over her shoulder as the other players came in. She did notice another Inkbrush walk in among some other players. She really hoped she wasn't going to embarrass herself in front of them, that would be awful. 

     "...and remember, your Bubbler special is your friend in a tight spot, okay? So keep it saved for close encounters or team pushes. ...Hey, are you okay Pix?"

     "W-what, yeah I'm fine! Sorry, I just zoned out for a second." Pixel said, smiling at Jack.

     "Hm, alright, just remember-" she was interrupted by the sound of a bell, signaling players to take their spots. "Hey, you're gonna do great. And we can always leave early if we have to okay? And I'm sure we'll end up on the same team at least once." Pixel nodded and waved as Jack went to take her spot, Pixel taking her own as well.

     The next thing she knew, she was hearing the guitar rift loud from the speakers, and she emerged from the orange respawn pad in Port Mackerel. Jack wasn't on her team, she realized dully. Before she could think about it more, she heard the whistle blow and she took off, rain and wind blowing in her face. It was oddly refreshing, and she was already loving how fast she could run with this Inkbrush, making a pathway for her teammates to the open area ahead. She started flinging her ink everywhere, covering everything she could. She felt amazing, she felt confident for once, she felt like she could actually be a good player in Turf Wars.

     And then she got hit with a Seeker and for a moment, it all came crashing down.

     She respawned a few seconds later, already frustrated. She shook her head, and ran as fast as she could with her brush to find her teammates again. She weaved between all the giant crates, the sounds of gunfire and bombs all around her. Pixel couldn't think clearly, she swam through the ink but stopped when she heard the sound of gunfire coming toward her direction. She panicked before remembering the Inkbrush Nouveau came with Ink Mines, and she hastily placed one down and backed up, withdrawing into the orange ink. If the mine didn't splat the other player, she would catch them when their guard is down. Fortunately, she didn't have to, because she heard the mine activate and explode, the Inkling that walked over it exploding in orange ink.

     Pixel rose up out of the ink and kept moving forward, spreading as much ink as she could, charging up her special. Once the area was covered she moved forward, dashing through the crates. Ahead of her she saw the Inkbrush user from the other team chasing a Splattershot Jr. on her team right in her direction. She almost turned around, she could easily run as fast as the other brush user could, before instead choosing to run toward the Jr. user. As Pixel caught up to them the Inkbrush was dangerously close, she activated her Bubble just in time to protect the both of them. As quick as she could manage she flung ink towards the enemy brush, eyes closed tight. She heard the splat and opened her eyes just in time to see the enemy explode in orange ink through the distorted image of her bubble.

     "Hey, thanks! That brush almost had me." The Splattershot Jr. said. "I would've used my own Bubbler but it wasn't charged yet." Pixel just smiled and waved before dashing off. Ahead of her between the crates, she saw a Luna Blaster and took them out as quickly as she could, splatting them in just a few seconds. Then the music changed, letting the players know that there was only a minute left. She had to wonder, the whole time she was playing, she had only seen an Inkbrush, a Luna Blaster, and a Carbon Roller Deco on the other team, but where was Jack? Pixel kept flinging her ink through the pathways between the crates, she turned a corner and- speak of the squid. Face to face with a certain Slosher user. Oh, Pixel thought, there she is.

     Pixel knew how dangerous Jack was with the Slosher and how quick she could splat enemy players. Sometimes those were first-hand experiences. Everything seemed to slow down after the first hit of the light blue ink. Pixel placed an Ink Mine down, knowing she didn't have enough time to get her first after already getting hit once. The second wave of ink came, towering over her, and for a second it seemed like it was never going to hit her. All at once time seemed to catch up with her, ink and rain suddenly colliding with her before she exploded into light blue ink. She was almost sure she heard the sound of a mine starting to detonate, though.

     All Pixel could do was fling as much ink as she could around once she had respawned with less than 30 seconds left on the clock. The whistle was blown just after an enemy Inkstrike was be launched, spreading even more blue on top of the orange ink. The sight of the blue Inkstrike against the rain in wind was almost mesmerizing, the wind blowing the ink in all sorts of directions. All the inklings eyes turned toward the scoreboard, looking at how dangerously close the map looked for both sides. The dancing image of Judd played as usual, before the flag pointed toward the blue team's base. With how close the percentages were, it seemed as if that last Inkstrike saved it for the other team. I have a feeling that was Jack's Inkstrike, Pixel thought to herself.

     Pixel looked at the scoreboard closer now, while the other inklings were waiting to return to the lobby. She found her name on the top of orange team's list, with 3 splats on other players and 2 times she was splatted herself. Wait, top of the list? She couldn't believe her eyes, that meant she had spread the most ink out of her whole team. That felt good. She couldn't explain why, she had just lost, normally she'd feel upset after a loss like she usually did. But she didn't feel upset; she felt great. 

     Walking back into the lobby she felt a hand on her shoulder and flinched at the sudden contact. "Oh, sorry! I scared you, didn't I?" Pixel turned around to see the Splattershot Jr. player from earlier, hand up in the air from when it retreated her shoulder. "That's a bad habit from when I play with my friends. Sorry. I just wanted to say you did pretty good! And to thank you again for totally saving my butt back there with the other Inkbrush."

     "Oh, uh," Pixel wasn't exactly sure what to say, "Thanks? And it's no problem."

     The taller inkling laughed and continued, "Well! I have to go, but I just wanted to say that before I left, so... thanks again, bye!" and with that Pixel was alone again before she could even say goodbye herself. She just shrugged to herself and held her Inkbrush Nouveau in her hands loosely as she waited in the lobby.

     From behind her, she heard a familiar voice shout her name. Turning around, she saw Jack running up to her, Slosher in hand as she ran in from the blue side's exit. "Hey are you oka-"

     "Jack, that felt- that was awesome!" Seeing her friend again made all of her excitement bubble up, as it always seemed to around her. "I just, at first, I got hit with a Seeker right away and at first I felt like I was going to have a bad time, but then I was right back into the action! And then, I got someone with an Ink Mine right in front of me! Oh and then there was this one kid, they were being chased by the brush on your team and then I ran right in and out comes the Bubbler!" Hands raising up slightly, her arms making a bubble like shape. "I just, I activated it as quick as I could and then I went in for the splat, and then I got a Luna Blaster and then you got me and then I respawned and spread ink as much as I could and then there was an Inkstrike at the end and we lost but I just-" and Pixel had to breathe, she had to stop herself to take a quick breath. "That was... a lot of words."

     She looked back at Jack and she was just smiling wide. "Pixel," she started, placing both of her hands on Pixel's shoulders, "I think we just found your weapon." Pixel looked down at the brush, and then back up at Jack.

     "Do- do you think so?" Pixel asked, unsure of whether or not she wanted to assume.

     "Pix, you have never been that excited after a Turf War match. And, not trying to rub it in, but you just  _lost_. Some squids just click with a weapon, and I think that's exactly what just happened." Her hands raised off of Pixel's shoulders and she shrugged. "I mean, you are the one using the weapon, so it's not really my call to make. But I honestly couldn't understand half of what you said because you were talking so fast," she crossed her arms. "Like I said, I've never seen you that excited after a match before."

     Pixel thought about it, how good she felt seeing herself as the top scorer of her team, how she managed to splat three other players, how the other player had thanked her at least twice before running off. It felt great. She picked up the brush and held it in her hands again, inspecting it as she thought about it. Looking back up at Jack, she just smiled and said, "Want to play again?"

     Jack just smiled back.

* * *

     It was much later in the day, and the two had finally stopped playing together for the day. They picked up their belongings from the lockers they had put their things in and collected their winnings. Pixel was taking apart her Inkbrush Nouveau to put in her bag when she realized she hadn't checked her phone yet to see if Aunt Jenn was okay with Jack coming over. She scrambled for it in a panic and pulled it out, the LED light flashing. Unlocking her phone, she was relieved when she saw that she had sent a simple  _"Ok!"_  back. She probably hadn't had much time to reply. Packing up what was left, she zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulders. "Ready?" she asked, looking over at Jack.

     "Yep! Let's go." The two headed outside, it had become much darker. Not only because of the time, but also because the clouds were starting to get darker. "Ah, it's a good thing we finished when we did, huh? I don't think I uh," Jack cleared her throat. "I don't really want to be caught in a thunderstorm." Pixel looked over at Jack, who was looking in the other direction, away from her.

     "Well, assuming the train is on time, we won't have to be outside long. It lets off pretty close to my apartment, too." Jack fidgeted with some money in her pocket, the sound just barely audible over the noises of Inkopolis.

     "Alright, cool. We won't have to walk much then. That's not bad." She was worried about Jack's shift in mood, but didn't want to ask in case she was imagining things. The way she was talking was the same, but her tone was... different. And she was oddly quiet. When Pixel thought about it, it almost seemed as if she was talking to herself. They walked under the overpass for the train, waiting for it to pull in when thunder rumbled in the distance and Jack flinched. Pixel looked at her, her face was tense and she was gripping her shirt with her hands.

     "Hey," Pixel started, concerned. "Hey, Jack, I'm right here, okay?" Reaching over, taking one of Jack's hands gently in hers. She hoped she wasn't overstepping any boundaries, but Jack seemed so terrified, was it the thunder? Or maybe the idea of lightning? It was likely, but she wasn't going to pry.

     Jack tightened her grip on Pixel's hand. Not enough to hurt, just enough to squeeze. Pixel gave a small squeeze back, she had no idea if this was helping at all. She heard Jack take in a deep breath before letting it out. "I'm sorry."

     "What? Jack, it's okay, you don't need to worry. I'm here with you. I'm not upset and you don't need to apologize for anything."

     For a few moments Jack was silent, the sound of the train pulling in didn't seem to ease her nerves at all. "Can you, can you uh-"

     "Oh, I'm sorry! Do you want me to let go-" and Pixel immediately started loosening her grip, worried she had made Jack uncomfortable.

     "No- no I," Jack stammered, "Don't let go. Please."

     "Okay," Pixel said, her hand returning to where it was as the train pulled in. She walked forward, making sure she wasn't walking faster than Jack since she didn't want to let go.

     They took a seat together, Jack sitting close to Pixel. Pixel took the window seat, she figured Jack probably wouldn't want it anyway. She took a deep breath. "I'm... I'm sorry again. It's just, I'm so scared of storms. I don't know why. I just am. Rain itself is fine, but... But when it starts getting dark I get nervous and then the heavy rain and the thunder just- I'm sorry."

     "Jack, really, it's okay." Pixel started, looking Jack in the eyes. "You don't need to explain yourself and you don't need to feel guilty. I'm here, okay? We'll be home soon and we can go have dinner and then we're gonna hang out and spend the night doing whatever. I'll keep you safe. And if it makes you feel better, I'll hold your hand as long as you need. I really don't mind."

     "I- thank you, Pixel." And Pixel gave her a smile, tightening the grip on her friend's hand, holding it the rest of the way.

     On one hand, the train didn't take too much longer to pull into their stop. On the other hand, the weather got worse and it was raining much harder now. They had exited the train and Pixel was mentally kicking herself for not asking her aunt to meet them out here with an umbrella or something. "We can wait here and I can ask Jenn to come get us if you want, Jack-"

     "It's okay," Jack started, holding Pixel's hand tighter since they had gotten off the train. "We can run. You said your apartment is close by, right? We can just- we can run. We'll be fine."

     "Yeah, we'll be fine. Are you ready?"

     Jack pulled down the Pilot Goggles she was wearing, Pixel guess it was to keep water out of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm ready." Pixel wasn't sure if she meant it, but she didn't really have a choice but to believe her.

     "Okay... let's go!" She shouted, and they both started off. Pixel was ahead of Jack by a bit, she didn't like not being able to see her when she was obviously in distress, but she had to lead them to the apartment. Rain poured down on them as the wind tried to push them back and mud splashed under their shoes. "This way!" she shouted over the rain once she saw the entrance to her building. After what seemed like forever they were finally inside, dripping wet and out of breath, their hands still held together. Pixel was trying hard not to cough and wheeze, she just had to even out her breathing. She let out what she hoped sounded like a sigh and stood up straight, looking at Jack. "We're okay, we're inside now. Ready to go up?"

     "Yeah, I just... your floor's going to get wet." She said, looking at Pixel apologetically, pushing the Pilot Goggles back to their place on top of her head.

     "Pssht, you're not the only one drenched here, silly." Pixel said. "I have clothes we can change into and we can wash these. It's no big deal. We just have to climb up those stairs; I'm on the second floor."

     "Lead the way, Pix," Jack smiled. Now that she was inside she already seemed to be feeling much better. She pulled out the key to her apartment with her free hand as they walked up the steps. Once they reached the door Jack let go of her hand. "Hey, um, thank you for holding my hand. Sorry if it was uncomfortable but it did help. It was just nice being able to know you were there, if that makes sense."

     "You can hold my hand anytime Jack," and then Pixel realized what she said and her face flushed in panic, "I mean! Uh, whenever you want to?"

     Jack just smiled mischievously and said, "Maybe I'll have to take you up on that. Holding your hand is nice, anyway."

     Pixel swear her blush grew darker at the teasing and she heard Jack laughing. She felt embarrassed, but not necessarily in a bad way. At least, it didn't feel bad. Jack seemed to be feeling better already, so that was good too. She rubbed her cheeks and pushed the key in the lock, turning the key and opening the door.

* * *

     The more Pixel thought about it, she's really not surprised her aunt had fussed over them as much as she did when they walked through the door soaking wet. That's so her, Pixel thought to herself, she does that with me all the time. Jenn immediately gave them towels to get them at least somewhat dry while Pixel went to her room to pick out some clothes for the two of them to wear.

      Once they had changed, Pixel having picked out looser clothes because they always felt comfiest after being dried off and suddenly warm, then they all ate dinner together. She was relieved with how quickly Jack got along with her aunt, Pixel could almost swear they spoke more than she did. After they had eaten dinner they retreated to Pixel's room, pulling out all the blankets Pixel had and setting them all over the floor. 

     "Wanna watch a movie or something?" Pixel asked, looking over at Jack who was trying, and failing, to wrap herself in a cocoon of blankets.

     "Sure! That sounds fun."

     "Alright, I'll pick a random one out. And stop hogging all the blankets you goof!"

     "I'm making a cocoon! Maybe one day I'll be a beautiful, uh... squidifly?" Jack said, unsure of what an inkling in a cocoon would actually turn into. Pixel rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she couldn't help smiling anyway. She picked out a random movie and put it in. "So! What're we watching?"

     ""The Beauty and the Kraken," and I think it has a short before the actual movie too?" Pixel said, turning the case around to look at the back.

     "I don't think I've ever seen that one," Jack said, wiggling herself out of all the blankets and lying them all over the floor again before sitting up.

     "Well, there's a first time for everything, yeah?" Pixel sat down next to her and picked up the remote to play DVD. As they watched, Pixel stopped paying attention to it. She'd watched these many times before when she still lived with her parents. Instead her eyes wandered to Jack, who looked totally interested. She had been looking at Jack for a few more moments before realizing she was staring and turned to look back at the movie.

     "I don't get it, why does it really matter if one child doesn't look like all the others? That's so mean."

     "Yeah, that's what I always thought too. My parents didn't like this one though."

     "Why not?" Jack asked, turning to look at Pixel, who only shrugged.

     "Dunno. I guess they don't like that the inklings are kinda painted as the bad guys? I guess? It's one of my favorites, though."

     Jack turned back to face the screen, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "I like it too. It's a nice story."

     The next few moments were spent just watching the movie, the music filling the silence between them. The title card for "Beauty and the Kraken" had just come up before everything shut off with a crack of lightning outside. Pixel felt Jack tense up and before she could do anything about it, a loud roar of thunder shook the building and she heard a whimper from Jack.

     "I- oh man, I'll get my phone so we can see," Pixel said, scrambling to stand up in the dark and search for her phone. She could hear the heavy rain and wind against her window, it was really coming down outside. Feeling alongside the top of her desk, her hands brushed around gently until she felt it. She picked it up and turned it on, moving it around so she could see. Her stomach dropped when she looked over at where she had been sitting.

     Jack had already wrapped some of the blankets around her, and she could tell by the blankets she was curled up. Pixel got back on the ground, getting close to where Jack was sitting. "Jack, I'm- I'm gonna get under the blankets with you, okay?" She didn't say anything, and Pixel gently lifted up some of the blankets to get under and sit next to her. "Hey, I'm here, okay?" She placed her phone by their legs so they could both see. "Jack, hey, Jack..." Pixel reached out for her hand, squeezing it firmly and running her thumb over the back of her hand a few times. She looked up at Jack and she saw tears running down her face.

     Pixel moved so she was sitting closer to her, but before she could say anything else Jack moved in for a hug, wrapping her arms tight around Pixel. The movement caused the blankets to fall off of their heads, thankfully, because it was getting hard to breathe, and Pixel was frozen for a moment before she wrapped her own arms around Jack, trying to calm her down.

     She wasn't sure how long they had been like that, but eventually she realized Jack's breathing had evened out and she was pulling away, sniffling and rubbing at her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, lowering her hands and gripping the black anchor tee she had changed into earlier. "I just, I think the power cutting off just made me snap and- I thought being inside would keep me from being scared but I've never had the power go out on me before and-"

     "It's okay Jack, I understand. We could maybe just try to sleep? Would that help?" 

     "Maybe," Jack said, grabbing one of the pillows from the floor. "I can sleep on the ground."

     "What? No way. You're my guest, you should take the bed, I can sleep on the ground."

     "But it's your room, you should take your bed." Knowing Jack was probably going to be as adamant about it as she was, Pixel thought of an idea.

     "We could share the bed?" Jack looked over at her and Pixel found herself getting nervous again. "I mean uh, that way neither of us has to sleep on the ground, my bed is big enough, and maybe that way if you get scared again I'm right there?"

     "Yeah, that would work. You better not hog all the blankets though." Jack said, laughing softly before sniffling. 

     "Hey, you're the one who was trying to make a cocoon for squids." Pixel shot back, grinning at her.

     "Well yeah, because one day I want to be beautiful, so I have to make a cocoon. Duh."

     But you already are beautiful, Pixel thought, and she's really glad she thought it rather than said it, because is that something people normally say to their best friends? She didn't think so.

     They both lied on the bed, Pixel lying closer to the wall so Jack didn't have to. She moved her tentacles so they were in front of her rather than behind her so they weren't intruding on Jack's space. Jack had pulled some of the blankets from the pile over them to sleep with and Pixel heard Jack's breathing even out. She reached for one of the spare pillows she had on the bed and held it like she usually did when she wanted to sleep.

     Her eyes were heavy and she was almost asleep until she felt shuffling and arms wrapped around her stomach from behind. "Jack?" Pixel asked quietly, but she didn't get a response. Jack was still asleep. Oh. All the tiredness she had in her before had completely left by now. She felt so nervous, why did she suddenly feel so nervous? Jack was asleep, she didn't even know she had snuggled up so closely to her, it wasn't like she did it on purpose. Pixel closed her eyes but she was too anxious. Why was she so anxious?

     And when she realized, it hit her like a brick. Maybe it was obvious from how she almost called her beautiful, or how she ended up just admiring how nice she looked and ended up staring and how she loved the way her hand felt in her's. The thought hadn't even come to mind until now, and it really didn't help the anxious feeling she had with Jack lying so close to her.

      _Oh._

      _I think I have a crush on my best friend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And for being oh so bad at actually updating this, here's a bonus chapter, two in one day! Woohoo! ...But really, I just split the last one up because I wrote so much at once it just made since to split them apart into two chapters. So much for how short this was planned to be. Oh well, that just means more for everyone else, haha.


	5. Chapter 5

     Pixel opened her eyes groggily, staring numbly at the blank wall. Sleep still washed over her, she shifted under the sheets and held her pillow closer. Her eyes closed again with a sigh. Her thoughts started to wander- it was Friday, right? The next Splatfest theme should be announced today if things were on schedule like they usually were. Maybe she'd be on the same team as Jack, what if they were on different teams, though?

     Wait, Jack. Pixel opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. She wasn't behind her on the bed. Instead, Jack was sitting in the computer chair, spun away from the computer and faced toward the wall instead. She was already changed back into her clothes from the day before, pajamas folded neatly in her lap. Her phone was in her hands and she was smiling at it. Pixel sat up and stretched her arms, raising them in front of her and curling her hands back. Jack looked up from her phone and placed it down on the desk to her left.

     "Hey, good morning Pix." said Jack, quieter than she normally spoke. Pixel just hummed in response and yawned. Words weren't really working for her yet. Jack just smiled and stood up, moving to sit on the bed next to the tired inkling still curled up in her blankets. "I woke up and changed in your bathroom. When I came out I ran into your aunt and we ended up talking. She had no idea the power was out and asked if the two of us were alright at least three times."

     Pixel spoke without thinking, "That does sound like her. Sorry if it was... weird. She just worries about me a lot and," she paused, clutching the blankets still wrapped around her legs, "it's more than my parents ever gave me. I appreciate it, even if sometimes it doesn't seem necessary." 

     Jack looked away, her face unreadable. Pixel worried she had made her uncomfortable until she faced her again. "Your parents, what happened with them? I mean, if you don't want to answer you don't have to, but-"

     "No, it's fine," Pixel cut in, pulling her pillow into her lap to hold it. "They- they were both kinda... not that great once I really thought about it. Mother was always on the phone or working in her room alone. She barely payed attention to me," Pixel laughed quietly, "sometimes I'd- I'd get myself in trouble just to get her to pay attention to me, y'know? 

     "And my dad, he was around even less. Usually he wasn't even home." Tears started to form in her eyes and Pixel took a deep breath before wiping them. "I'd wait for him some nights. Sometimes he'd come home late and he'd smell gross, I hate that smell. Other times I was woken up by arguing and yelling, sometimes I'd hear objects breaking and then I'd get out of bed that morning and a lamp is missing or the flower vase is gone.

     "It was just, so sudden I guess. It was barely over a year ago. And the only reason I'm not in an orphanage somewhere is because Jenn found out they both wanted nothing to do with me and took me in herself.  I don't really understand how she found out, or all the legal things that had to happen for it to work, but..." Pixel didn't know how to continue so she let her story drop there.

     "Pixel..." Jack reached over and took one of her hands and held it gently, "I'm sorry that happened, you deserve much better than that. I don't know if it's overstepping any boundaries to say this, but your parents sound awful. You're the sweetest inkling I've ever met and I really like- I really uh, I just think you deserve better."

     Pixel was speechless; Jack had just given her a genuine compliment and it felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. This really wasn't helping with her possible crush. She hoped she wasn't blushing.

     "It was... hard. It really made me feel confused how fast everything happened. I used to feel like I was great at everything and then, everything just went so downhill. Old friends started to make fun of me, things I used to enjoy just frustrated me. Jenn ended up switching me to an online school for the rest of the year. But... it's gotten better. My aunt actually cares about me, and I made a friend who really does care about me, even when I get really sad for no reason." 

     Jack just smiled and wiped away a stray tear with her free hand. "I really care about you, okay Pixel? I want to support you no matter what. And uh, this may be a weird time to bring it up, but the next Splatfest was announced for next weekend. Pirates and Ninjas. Maybe you could stay the night before at my place?"

     "Sure, that sounds fun." Pixel pushed the blankets to the side and moved to get off of the bed. "I think I'm gonna go team ninja."

     "Aw man. I'm gonna go pirates. They seem waaay cooler." Jack stood up as well and stretched, the sleeves of her flannel falling down her arms. "I think ninjas suit you though."

     Pixel laughed. She thought pirates suited Jack pretty well, too. "We should go get those shirts later today. Want some breakfast first though?"

     "Yeah! And then after we get those shirts we should practice. If that's all right with you." Of course it was alright, more time spent with Jack was definitely welcome.

     "Sounds perfect." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit short, sorry. I really wanted to continue with this though, and I'm pulling an all nighter, so here it is. I am determined to finish this no matter what.


	6. Chapter 6

     Two inklings stepped off the train, the shorter of the two leading the other through a dark, unfamiliar neighborhood. It was hard to believe it was already Thursday, the whole week passed them by quickly. Pixel didn't know about Jack, but they had played until the arenas had closed for the day, and her muscles were sore. She hped she wouldn't feel it in the morning.

     Jack had taken Pixel's hand to lead the way to her house, though Pixel was only a step behind. It hadn't gone unnoticed to her how much they had been holding hands lately. Not that she was complaining; it was nice.

     "Man, and then when I was trying to send that Inkstrike at the last few seconds the one guy almost got me and then you just-" Jack moved her left arm in a wide, forward motion, "you just swooped in and ping! Surprise, it's bubble time!" Her face was covered with excitement, blue eyes practically sparkling. 

     "We ended up winning that match very closely too, your Inkstrike really saved it." Pixel added, adjusting the bag on her shoulder with her right arm.

     "Hey, give yourself some credit," Jack bumped her shoulder against Pixel's, "if you hadn't came in with that Bubbler, we would've totally lost that match."

     Pixel hadn't felt like it was a huge deal, she hadn't even been waiting for something like that to happen. When she saw Jack in trouble while scrambling to find a launch position, Pixel found herself running towards her as fast as she could.

     She was silent for another moment before nodding. "I guess we make a pretty good team, huh?"

     "Heck yeah we do! Just sucks that we'r on differ-" and Jack stopped, Pixel stopping abruptly in reaction. "Oh no."

     "Jack?" The shorter inkling shifted from foot to foot, and then sighed, pointing towards one of the larger houses on the street.

     "They're having another party again." Jack covered her face with her free hand while Pixel looked over to the house in question. There seemed to be different cars parked in the driveway as well as some in the street, most of them seemingly centered around the house. "My parents, they just- they'll just throw parties without telling me! And then they invite pretty much the whole neighborhood."

     "Do you want to go back to my place instead?" Jack's grip on her hand tightened and she sighed.

     "No- no, this is... It's fine. It'll be fine, I just wish they would've told me considering I told them I was bringing a friend." Pixel nodded and squeezed her hand back as they kept walking, running her thumb absently over Jack's knuckles. "We'll just walk in there and go into my room and it'll be fine. No one's allowed in there."

     "Is that a party rule?" Pixel asked without thinking as they walked up to the door. She wasn't exactly sure where the question came from.

     "No, not really, but since the older kid that tried to trash my room left with a black eye and several bruises, everyone got the point." Pixel couldn't help but laugh, that sounded exactly like her. Jack was so cool and brave and confident and strong. Everything she wasn't. Jack raised a hand to the doorknob and took hold of it before turning. She took a deep breath, and opened the door.

* * *

      The sound of music slammed against Pixel's ears immediately, the bass hard against her ears and the thrumming hard against her head. Her hands moved to cover her ears, though they did almost nothing to block out the noise. She walked forward regardless to let Jack close the door.

     "Okay," Jack practically yelled at Pixel for her to hear, "we just have to get to my room and avoid my-"

     "Jackie dear!" her face immediately scrunched up in annoyance and she turned around to face the two older inklings walking toward her.

     "Mom, Dad..." she crossed her arms, Pixel wondered if she did that intentionally or not. She hadn't ever seen Jack cross her arms like that around her before.

     "Jackie, we were wondering when you were going to come down from your room and join the party!" The taller one said. Presumably her dad.

     "Stop calling me Jackie. Just Jack. And I wasn't in my room to begin with. I left early this morning." Pixel couldn't see her face but from her body alone, she looked really angry.

     "Did you?" Her mother chimed in. She didn't look very concerned. "Well that's alright, because you're here now, and that's what matters. Come, we want you to meet some of our new guests!"

     "Hey-!" was all Jack managed to say before Pixel could even register what happened before her, Jack was pushed (almost dragged) away without another word. Oh. Now she's alone.

     Slowly uncovering her ears, able to _tolerate_ the music at this point, she took a moment to scan the massive room in front of her. To her immediate right was a coat hanger, various bags were placed there too. No way is she trusting hers up there. Scanning the room it finally hit her just how large it was and just how many guests were here, too. There were tables with food, drinks, and whatever else. Behind everything were the stairs. Jack nowhere to be found.

     "She wanted us to get to her room, if I can figure out where her room is..." Pixel mumbled to herself. Guessing the bedrooms would be upstairs, she inhaled and exhaled before starting to make her way through the crowd. She held onto the straps of her bag tighter as she walked just so she could hold something. Thankfully, no one payed her much more than a short glance.

     It was interesting hearing short parts of conversations, things she had no context for. Relatives performing in shows, the school year starting soon, organizing squads. Pixel was starting to notice a lot of inklings that looked about her age, were these Jack's other friends? By what they all talked about, they sounded much more interesting than herself.

     Pixel shook her head and kept walking.

     She climbed up the steps, feeling awkward that everyone could probably see her. Pixel worked up the courage to turn her head but no one seemed to notice. She took the moment to scan the crowd for Jack, but still no sign of her. Once she was in her room she could let her know she was up there, so it was fine.

     Reaching the top of the stairs, she was thankful the sound of the music had died down considerably. She saw a door right in front of her that had a sign with "JACK" in big letters. Pixel walked up to it, she stared at the sign first. Her handwriting looked really nice. Her hand took the doorknob and-

     "Hey!" and Pixel flinched, nearly yelping in surprise as her hand flew into the air. She turned to her right to see the rest of the hallway, another inkling was standing there. "Don't you know that's Jackie's room? No one's allowed in there."

     Pixel's breathing started to shift and she couldn't calm down. Her eyes grew wider as the inkling walked closer. "Your face has guilt written all over it, I can... hey, wait. Your face looks... familiar." Her breathing stopped entirely at that, what? Where could he be remembering her from?

     His face suddenly changed and suddenly he had a smirk, but it made her feel uneasy. "Wait, wait wait wait, you're- oh my god, you're that one loser charger I fought that one time aren't you? Kelp Charger or something? Pfahahaha! You have to be kidding me! You were so bad!" He just kept laughing until it slowly died down. "And to think that you were trying to steal from Jackie? I can't just let you do that."

     He walked forward and grabbed her hands from behind, shoving her forward. Pixel's whole body was on autopilot, moving despite her thoughts. Fight back damn it! Just fight back! Just kick him! Punch him, anything! But her body refused, and he ended up shoving her into a closet. "You won't be needing this." He said with a smirk as he held up her bag. Pixel's body finally caught up with her, head turning to see her bag in his hands. Her arms instinctively reached for straps that were no longer there. "I'll be telling them you're here until they figure out what to do with you. This is what happens to dirty thieves like you."

     The door slammed shut, there was a click from the knob, and then there was nothing but darkness to keep Pixel company.

* * *

 

     She had long since run out of tears to cry. Pixel wasn't sure how long she was in that closet, everything she had was in her bag. Including her Inkbrush Nouveau. Out of everything she could've lost in her bag, that upset her the most. Jack had always tried to help Pixel find a weapon she enjoyed, and she finally did, and now she has no idea where it is. In any other situation like this she would be banging on the door to get someone's attention, but she was too afraid to do so in case that one inkling was still around.

     She sat against the wall and drew her legs up to her chest, holding her shoulders while her elbows leaned on her knees.  

     Above the sounds of the music from downstairs you hear someone walking- more like running, actually- up the stairs. The footsteps are heavy and you hear random doors slamming open recklessly. The sound that really startled her was the sudden jiggling of the doorknob. Pixel heard the sound of a click, and the door swung open, light flooding in. She looked up to see Jack in the doorway, left hand holding Pixel's bag, her features hard to see with the light casting a shadow on her.

     "Oh my god," she took a couple steps forward and dropped the bag to kneel in front of Pixel. "Oh my god Pixel I shouldn't have let my parents drag me off, I should have snuck away I should've tried to find you earlier and then when people were leaving I still couldn't find you until that jerk came up to me all oh look I found someone trying to get into your room, this is her bag I locked them up until your parents deal with her and I yanked the bag from his hands and told him to leave and came to find you and I'm sorry and-"

     "Jack, hey," Pixel moved her legs so they were crossed in front of her. "I'm okay, it's alright." She offered a smile and took both of Jack's hands in her's. "Why don't we go back to your room, now, instead of this musty closet?"

     Jack nodded and stood up, picking up Pixel's bag and handing it over to her. Once Pixel had stood up she took it and slung a strap over one shoulder. "Uh, I don't know what time you wanted to go to sleep, but it's almost midnight."

     "Bed... sounds pretty good right now." She said, walking behind Jack as she opened her bedroom door. The two both walked in and Pixel looked around. It was spacious, the wall straight in front of her having a balcony with a view of the lake. To the right was a closet and what looked to be a bathroom door next to it. On the opposite wall was her bed with a side table next to it and a drawer in front of it, decorated with various toys and items. Across from the bed was a TV on the wall, a computer hooked up on the counter against the wall.

     Jack cleared her throat, and suggested they start changing into their pajamas. Pixel agreed and changed first, changing in the bathroom while Jack changed in her own room. She waited in the bathroom until she heard Jack say, "Alright, I'm done."

     She was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the TV remote and flipping through random channels. "Just wanna play something for quiet background noise. You like sleeping on the side closest to the wall right?" Pixel nodded and Jack smiled, "Well that's perfect because I like sleeping on the open end so it works."

     Pixel laughed and just propped herself onto her bed, lying down under her covers. They're really soft and warm and oh my god she just realized how tired she is. She felt Jack start to shuffle under the covers after finding a suitable program on the TV and Pixel turned to face the wall and closed her eyes.

     "Pixel?" Jack asked quietly.

     "Hmm?" She said back without opening her eyes.

     Jack turned over to face Pixel's back, "Is it okay if I hug you? I know that sounds weird, but-"

     "It's okay, Jack, I don't mind." And she felt Jack move closer, one arm moving over Pixel's shoulder. She's glad she was still facing the wall because she knows her face is flushed. Part of her wonders (and hopes) Jack feels the same.

     They lied in silence for a little while, until Jack pressed her head against Pixel's back. "I'm really glad you're my friend, Pixel. I've never had a real friend like you because the only "friends" I ever had were these kids that came to these parties, and..." she sighed, "they aren't real friends anyway they just- pretend to know me. But I finally make a real friend, you, and you got in trouble because of me..."

     "Jack, what're you talking about? When I first met you, I was still in a really rough time. I'm still going through some of it, you know that. But ever since I've met you, everything has been so fun, so wild, I don't even know how to describe it." Her face heated up again, almost uncomfortably so. "You've made my life an adventure within these past few months and I'm really glad you're my friend, too."

     Jack yawned behind her, and mumbled something Pixel couldn't hear. Pixel would've asked what she said, but her breathing evened out and she guessed she had fallen asleep. She reached for the hand draped over her shoulder and held it with her own, fingers intertwining gently. Pixel yawned and closed her eyes.

     Maybe she didn't have the courage to say anything to Jack yet, but for tonight, things are perfect the way they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if anyone even reads this anymore but if anyone does: you guys rock. Thanks for putting up with my sporadic update schedule.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi so let's pretend I didn't drop off the face of the Earth for 8 months okay? okay
> 
> I'm determined to finish this so let's goooooo!

     The sound of birds chirping outside was what woke her up, and after that there wasn't much of a choice in getting back to sleep. Pixel groaned slightly, the light in the room telling her it had to still be early in the morning. Waking up early isn't normally an issue, but considering tonight's Splatfest, she had no plans to play in Turf War during the day. She'd rather save the energy.

     All at once she remembered that this was not her house, and she was not in her own bed. The occurrences of last night came back to her slowly, and she groggily rubbed at her eyes as she remembered everything. The loud music that throbbed against her ears, the buzz of people, the inkling that took her stuff and locked her in a closet.

     She thought of Jack, how her head was pressed to her back, the two of their hands entwined, how close they were, and Pixel was glad that she wasn't here currently, because she could feel the flush that covered her face.

     Sitting up and sitting on the edge of the bed, Pixel rubbed the back of her head and looked around Jack's room again. It was pretty big, and it looked nice and organized, if not a bit empty. The TV hs been turned off, the door open just slightly, and her phone on the nightstand.

     "Oh fuck, I thought that was gone with my bag," she said out loud, reaching over to pick it up. She unlocked the screen, greeted by a few unread messages.

      _"Hey squiddo, I know you're probably having fun with Jack right now but text me back when you can, want to check in!"_

Ah jeez, Jenn sent that to her last night. The following text messages are similar in nature, another from even later in the night, and another from about twenty minutes ago.

      _"Sorry, got so caught up with Jack I forgot to check my phone. I'm okay I just woke up"_ Jack hoped that would be enough to put her at ease and backed out to check her other unread message.

      _"Hey pix, sorry about last night, i talked with my parents this morning before they left and got your bag back. I took your phone out of it because i figured your aunt might call or text you. Everything else is in your bag, i left it in the bathroom. I'll be downstairs with breakfast if you want some!"_

She found herself smiling at the text until she caught herself and rubbed her cheeks. Pixel put her phone down and stood up, making her way to the bathroom. Her bag was there on the ground, in front of the sink. Reaching in, she pulled out her clothes to change. Her brush was still in there and a sigh of relief escaped her. She changed out of her pajamas and into her regular clothes, shoving the pajamas into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

     Leaving Jack's room, she began looking for her. The house looked so empty when it wasn't full of people, she thought as she walked down the stairs. Walking forward towards the open kitchen, she saw Jack turned away from her, making something on the counter. 

     "Morning Jack," Pixel started. Jack turned around and smiled.

     "Hey Pix! Sorry for leaving, I wanted to figure out where your bag was and then I got hungry. I'm just making cereal for myself, but we have more if you want something else?"

     "Oh, nah, cereal is fine for me too," she said, taking a seat on a stool at the kitchen bar. Jack nodded and grabbed another bowl from the cupboard. Pixel fiddled with her phone while she waited, putting it back down once a bowl of cereal was placed in front of her.

     They ate in a comfortable silence, and Pixel enjoyed Jack's presence. As big as the house was, with Jack sitting next to her she felt so much better in the unfamiliar setting. When they finished their food, Jack took the bowls and placed them in the sink before walking towards the couches behind her.

     "Wanna watch something? We have a lot of time to kill before Splatfest."

     "Sure," Pixel said with a nod. She stood up and walked over, Jack taking a seat on the couch and patting the space next to her. Pixel sat timidly next to her, feeling conscious about the amount of space she might take up in a house that's not her own. Eventually she relaxed into the couch once the movie had started, though she found it hard to focus on the movie once Jack had leaned against her while watching.

     At that point, the only thing Pixel could think about was how her crush was lying very, very close to her and how she was completely, utterly doomed.

* * *

     The train ride to Inkopolis was... interesting. Normally the train wasn't too crowded during the day--there were almost always a few spots to sit and on occasion you'd have to stand--but the train was packed and Pixel knew it was because of the Splatfest starting soon. The sun was setting and the train was full of excited, talkative squids.

     Pixel knew it would happen, but it didn't stop her from being really overwhelmed. Everything seemed too loud, everyone around her was too close and she felt stuck. Jack was helping in what way she could, seated right against Pixel while holding her hand. It was a small gesture, it always has been between them, but it still helped nonetheless. Her hand squeezed Jack's gently and she felt a small squeeze back.

     After what felt like much too long, the train had stopped and the car was emptying out. Pixel let Jack lead her out of the train and into the plaza, hands still held together. The sun had completely set now, leaving only the dark, starry sky above them. Pixel watched the fireworks setting off above her head as Jack led them through the crowd of inklings watching the Squid Sisters perform to the lockers to store their things and get their weapons out.

     "Before we start I wanna be sure you're still feeling good about this, because if you aren't we can go home."

     Pixel turned to face Jack before speaking, "I'm fine, just a little frazzled from the train ride, it'll wear off soon."

     Jack placed a hand on Pixel's shoulder and looked at her for a moment. "Okay, but just feel free to leave early if you need to okay?"

     "Jack, I'll be fine. But if I need to leave early I will, and I'll text you if I do."

     "Okay, I just worry about you. But hey, you'll do great, and good luck!" 

     "Aren't you on team pirate?" Pixel said playfully, smirking at her shorter friend. "You're not conspiring with the enemy, are you?"

     "Hmm, and what if I am?" Jack asked, and before Pixel could even realize what was happening Jack had leaned upwards and kissed her cheek. "Good luck out there, Pixel, maybe we'll see each other on the battlefield."

     Pixel took a few second just watching Jack's retreating form until she and her green tee had faded into the mass of other team pirate players, and she was sure the smile that spread across her face looked silly, but she couldn't find it in herself to care how she looked at the time.

     "She... she kissed me," Pixel raised a hand to the cheek and touched it gently, and her smile grew wider.

     Filled with an emotion she couldn't describe, she made sure her locker was locked and made her way towards the lobby with her Inkbrush Nouveau. Once inside, she walked into one of the entrances marked "NINJAS" with several little shurikens around the word. She entered herself into the system and waited until it sorted her into a team and the elevator brought her to them.

     When the door opened she was greeted by the sight of three other inklings. One had what looked to be a Splat Roller and was slouched against the wall. The second appeared to have an Aerospray RG and was sitting cross legged on the ground. The third had a Splattershot Jr., and was... walking right towards her.

     "Hey! Welcome to- hey, you look kind of familiar." He leaned in and Pixel instinctively leaned back, not used to people being too close. He quickly leaned up as recognition crossed his face. "Wait! You're that inkling from a while back who saved me with the Bubbler special!"

     "Er..." Pixel's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to think about what this guy was talking about. After all the practice she had done with her Nouveau, she could think of multiple instances she had saved a fellow teammate from a splat. 

     "You might not remember, and that's fine. I have a bad tendency to remember some really specific stuff, and then I'll be the same person to forget to eat or even forget where my classes are even after going there for weeks!" He moved his hand to rub his neck as he continued, "After the match I had to go, but I wanted to tell you that you did a good job, so I did, but I think I kinda scared you? And I felt bad for it afterwards, heh."

     That Pixel remembers, and she nods. "I remember that now. The compliment made me really happy, actually, it was my first time trying out the Inkbrush Nouveau and it felt pretty good to hear.

     "Well, seeing that you still have it, I'd say you ended up really liking it, hm?"

     "Yeah, finally found a weapon that works for me." Pixel said, looking down at the weapon in her hands.

     "Awesome!" He smiled wide and put one hand on his side. "Oh right, since we're going to be on the same team, I guess I should introduce myself? The name's Hamilton, but you can just call me Ham, Hamilton is waaay to fancy for me."

     "Cool. Call me Pixel," she said, leaning against her Nouveau as she stood.

     "Your name is Pixel?" He said, tilting his head to she side and giving her a look.

     "Hey, you have people call you Ham, I think my name is on the same level of strange as yours," Pixel shot back with a smirk.

     "Okay, fair enough." Ham raised his arms in defense, but lowered them as the screen above them signaled they were ready to fight. A smile crossed his face as he glanced at Pixel. "You ready, then?"

     Pixel stared at the screen of the teams and their names and looked down at her weapon. She inhaled and exhaled slowly while her eyes were closed. All this time practicing, training, all the time Jack had spent with her encouraging her and being her friend and helping her out, it felt like it was all coming together. She opened her eyes and nodded, getting her weapon into position.

     "Yeah, I'm ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I thought this was gonna be the last chapter, but it's not! The only reason it's not is because I was writing what was supposed to be the last (which was this and a whole second part), and it became much longer than I expected to I'm splitting it in two! I'm nearly done with what will be the last chapter but I'm getting antsy and excited so I'm throwing this out now before I'm finished with the last part. Whoops?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!

     Pixel found out very quickly that her and Ham made a very good team. The pair had won most of their matches, though their teammates came and went fairly often, they stuck together with how well they played as a team. Both of their weapons covered a lot of turf very quickly, Pixel placed her ink mine in a lot of sneaky places, Ham always seemed to time his Splat Bombs just right, and they both had the Bubbler special, which caused a lot of frustration for the opposing players. They had the most ease in Walleye Warehouse, easily covering ground and backing up the pirate team. But even in Camp Triggerfish, which they both considered their hardest map, they still came out on top with victories on their side.

     Okay, so an idle thought passed through Pixel's mind that the two of them might actually be a little terrifying, too. But Splatfest, Pixel quickly found out, was another playing field entirely compared to regular turf matches. Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in, she and Ham took a seat on the floor of the waiting area while waiting for more teammates.

     "Oof, what a match, huh?" Ham started, stretching his back with his arms raised in the air.

     "Oh yeah, definitely, that dynamo user really gave me a tough time. I'm kinda surprised that team didn't win actually..." She responded, folding up her brush while she waited on the ground next to Ham.

     "Heh, yeah me too. But we got 'em in the end! Too bad the others didn't stick around, they were good, and they seemed pretty nice too. One of them always returned my booyahs."

     "Hey, I return your booyahs too," Pixel said, faking a pout as she looked at him.

     "Psh, I meant other than you, duh," Ham smirked, giving her shoulder a light punch. Pixel simply stuck her tongue out at him, which only made his grin grow wider as he laughed. "Oh wait, I totally just remembered! We have to add each other as friends on SplatNet after this."

     "SplatNet?"

     "Ohhh, oh my gosh you don't know about SplatNet? Okay so it's like," he started, bringing his hands up to make motions while he talked, "it's like, you know how we have ID cards we check in with right? I mean maybe you don't think about it much because it's such a standard thing, but basically all that stuff is logged into a profile of sorts? You can see data about you and your weapon choices and the current maps, it's fun! You can also see friends stats, and their current rankings and how they've been doing in regular turf or even ranked and... uh," He paused, smiling sheepishly as he brought his hand to the back of his neck, "I think I kinda rambled there, huh?" 

     "You're fine," Pixel assured, smiling, "that would be really cool, we definitely should. I wonder if Jack knows about it? Probably not, or else we would have added each other by now, probably."

     "Jack?" Realizing what she had said, Pixel looked away.

     "Uhh, well she's just a friend who I like a lot and I didn't even realizeIsaidthatoutloudoops..." She said quickly, her words becoming a quick jumble.

     "Oh? She must make you pretty happy huh? Heh, you're getting all nervous and, whoa, you're blushing a little actually."

     Pixel took a hold of her tentacles and brought them in front of her face, trying to cover herself. "Am not..."

     "You totally are!" He said, usual grin on his face as he continued. "I mean, I don't want to give you a hard time and I absolutely will drop this if you want me to, but," his head tilted to the side as she peeked over her tentacles to look at him, "She sounds very nice, if she makes you happy like that."

     "Well," she started, her shoulders relaxing a little as she spoke, "Jack is just, really nice? I mean, you're nice too and I'm not saying you aren't-"

     "I know you're not, don't worry."

     "And, well... She just... I just want to be with her? I think I might have a small crush on her, when we're near each other I just, I jut want to tell her how I feel, how I really feel about her, but I'm scared I guess? But I don't want to mess things up, I don't want to ruin what we have now." Pixel sighed and looked up towards the ceiling. "Feelings are weird, but when she holds my hand and squeezes it I feel so safe, and I love that, and I think I might love her too? She also kissed my cheek before we split for Splatfest and I keep thinking about it, but I just feel unsure of myself and ah, I'm sorry for just talking about all this gushy stuff..."

     "It's okay Pixel, if you need to talk I want to listen. I want to be your friend, and as your friend I want to listen if you have something you want to tell me, yeah?" He gave her a smile, different from the bubbly, laughter-filled ones he frequently adorned. "As for Jack, I think you should tell her. I don't know her, or how she feels, I don't think I've ever met her? But it sounds to me that she cares about you like you care about her, maybe she feels the same. If you're both afraid to take the first step, you'll end up going nowhere. Just be honest with how you feel and I think things will work out."

     "Being honest with myself and my feelings sounds scary, though," she said, holding her Splatfest tee in her hands nervously.

     "It might be scary, but hiding it doesn't sound like a good solution either. To be fair, I'm not you, I can't make your decisions, and you said yourself feelings are weird and you feel unsure, but I think it's better than hiding how you feel, y'know? I think you should just talk with her, that would be a good start."

     "Hm," Pixel considered what Ham had said. It was pretty solid advice, and he was right, she didn't want to hide it forever. She rested her head on of of her hands as she thought. Sure she was scared, but... "Yeah, you're right, I think. I think I'll tell her when I see her next."

     "There ya go!" Usual smirk back on his face, Ham gave Pixel a thumbs up before raising his arms in the air in an arch motion. "I believe in you, follow your dreeeeaaams!"

     "Okay okay, knock it off you weirdo," she said, pushing his arms down, her own smirk finding it's way back to her, accompanied by a small amount of confidence and determination. "For now, we still have to wait for teammates and more matches. I doubt I'll end up seeing her before Splatfest is over."

     "Yeah, yeah. Kinda weird, sometimes we get matches with others right away, and sometimes the wait just takes forever."

     "All there is to do is wait, I suppose."

     "Yup, s'pose so."

* * *

      The sky visibly began to get a bit lighter from the sun due to rise soon, so Pixel knew that Splatfest wouldn't last very much longer. Things were looking pretty good, Pixel had reached queen rank and Ham reached king rank, they continued their streak of 'mostly wins and some losses' as Ham put it, and the two had actually decided this would be the last match they'd play in so they could enjoy some fireworks before the sun actually rose. The screen above them that showed their match status finally showed the team of players they'd fight last, meaning they'd be able to have their last match.

     There was just one problem.

     Among the squids listed on the other team, Pixel definitely took notice of the slot reading _"Pirate Queen Jack"_ on the bright board above their heads.

     "Whoa, do you think-?"

     "Yeah," Pixel said, not even letting him finish his thought. She held her brush a little tighter, taking a breath in before slowly letting it out. "But it's fine. I have a very strong feeling that is her, considering I said I didn't think we'd see her at all. But it's okay, this will be fun."

     They heard a chime and the team walked towards their spots, Ham clenched a fist and gave her a confident look. "Yeah, we got this, let's go out there and do our thing."

     Rising out of the purple ink, Pixel took an even breath one more time before readying herself and looking up at the map. Greeted with the playing field of Camp Triggerfish, she looked across at the other team to try and see if Jack was there, but they were too far and the sky was too dark for them to be clearly visible. With the whistle blowing she took off, running across the ground with her inkbrush, charging forward to the center as Ham covered the area behind her in ink. The best strategy she really had was to charge to the area next to their side of the map, hoping none of the other team would notice her and that her own team would follow behind. 

     It worked well until she heard the sound of a crack and she felt the line of ink collide her as she poofed. Respawning, she let out a huff and super jumped to Ham, thankfully landing safely next to him and waving her brush around to spread the ink. They began slowly making their way towards the enemy spawn, covering each other as they walked on the netted path. A sight moved over Pixel and she braced herself for impact, looking right over to the squid with the charger. Neither of the two had their specials ready, but before either of them really knew what happened, a purple Inkzooka went flying right over the squid splatting them instantly.

     Using the large shots as cover, the two quickly headed into the enemy side and began spreading as much ink as they could. Ham threw Splat Bombs while Pixel laid down Ink Mines, but it was very obvious the other team did not like them being on their side. Ham used his Bubbler special and they managed to splat a couple more of the squids, but without the support of their other teammates, it was becoming difficult to hold their ground. 

     The charger user on the other team once again lined up their sights on them, on instinct Pixel activated her own Bubbler just in time to protect Ham from a line of green ink, the impact pushing him backwards. Unphased, Ham threw a Splat Bomb and hit his target, the enemy charger exploding with purple ink. Their bubbles popped, and too quickly Ham was splatted by a pirate team Aerospray user. In a panic, Pixel flung as much ink as she could until she heard a pop in front of her. She kept spreading as much ink as she could, until a Burst Bomb hit her back and she recoiled, turning around.

     "Sorry, Pix," Her eyes widened as she looked up to the top of the wall behind her, Jack visible for just a moment before the green ink took her entire vision.

     "Jack-" She felt herself explode and respawn a few seconds later, hopping off the respawn pad with intense resolve as the last minute music began to play.

     She flung ink on the walls that dropped next to the spawn, giving her quick entry to the other side of the map. She began to spread ink as wide as she could, leaving Ink Mines in her path so she had some warning if someone tried to sneak up on her from behind. There wasn't much time left, and the last few seconds of the match were filled with chaos all around her. Inkzookas were being shot, Bomb Rushes activated from both sides, and as the last notes of the song played she saw the missile of an Instrike about to land right where she was standing. Activating her Bubbler, the whistle blew as the Inkstrike landed. The whirls of ink surrounding her and she felt like she was being tossed around and thrown into the air. When the ink had parted, she realized she actually had been.

     For a moment, she was in the air, way up above the map. It was as if time had stopped for a moment. The sky was beautiful, despite looking slightly distorted through the bubble she was in. Looking down, the map was full of ink, the match looking really close. She could somewhat make out the figures of the other players, too. They all seemed to be looking up at her, but she couldn't even begin to tell who was who from how high she was.

     Then time caught up and she began to fall, and that's when she realized just how high she was in the air and her bubble was flashing.

     Welp.

     She began to fall, her bubble disappearing entirely. Taking her squid form and hope to land in a purple spot was the only thing Pixel could think to do, but with the Inkstrike covering the ground in green, it was really unlikely. Her fall was quick, gravity catching up with her just as time did while she closed her eyes and readied herself for impact. When she felt herself somewhere more comfortable than the hard ground, she opened her eyes and found herself looking up into a pair of dark gray eyes.

     "If you thought I was just gonna watch you fall, you'd better think again. I got ya, Pix."

     Jack lowered Pixel to the ground as she took her human form again, turning to face her. "Jack," she started, standing slightly shakily as Jack steadied her. "I, thank you for catching me, I-"

     The victory chime played and both of their heads snapped towards the scoreboards. The purple team had won just barely, but a win no less. The teams were returning to their lobbies, but Jack gave Pixel's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

     With that Pixel was left alone to watch Jack's retreating form before realizing she needed to leave as well. She made haste and ran towards her teams exit.

     She had a lot to tell Ham, for sure.

* * *

     After answering Ham's many questions, adding him on SplatNet and just enjoying the fireworks and show, Ham parted ways with Pixel as the sun just begun to rise and Splatfest was now officially done. "I don't think I can stay awake much longer, I'll catch up on what team won when I wake up. Later, Pixel." He had said before wihing her luck with Jack and striding off to the train.

     And so Pixel was alone, eyes definitely feeling heavy with sleep as she messed around with her phone. She had already returned her tee and changed into her Squidstar Waistcoat, so all that was left to do was wait.

     She hasn't realized she was dozing off on the bench until she felt something next to her and she jolted upright.

     "Tired?" Jack asked. Pixel only rubbed her eyes and nodded. "Heh, we'll both probably sleep well when we get home huh?"

     "Oh yeah, I will for sure." She said with a yawn, leaning towards Jack and resting her head on the shorter inkling's shoulder. Pixel felt really comfortable, especially when Jack's arm moved to hold her closer. Their eyes were both directed towards the screen, the Squid Sisters doing their usual rundown of the Splatfest stats, before finally announcing the winner of the Splatfest as none other than the pirate team. 

     Jack didn't say anything at first, so Pixel started, "Congrats, on the win you silly pirate." Pixel sat up and stretched before continuing, "This was the most fun I've had in a long time, I was really, really nervous about participating, and this is actually my first Splatfest, but thanks to you I've gotten so much more confident with myself and with others, I enjoyed myself and was a part of something I always thought I'd miss out on."

     "Well, you know what they say right? Even if you miss, the Inkstrike's gotta land somewhere, right? Er, wait, I don't think that's right..." Pixel laughed a little and looked to the side before looking back at Jack.

     "There's something else I've been meaning to tell you as well." She inhaled and exhaled. In and out. She was also worried if she didn't speak up now, the confidence would be gone and she wouldn't be able to bring it up again.

     "I, well, uh... Jack, gosh I don't really know how to go about doing this at all but, lately I've been thinking about you a lot? Like, a lot, and every time I see you I feel all light and sometimes when I think about you I get really nervous and happy at the same time, and I'm thinking that it might sort of be a crush maybe and I don't know if you feel the same, but I really wanted to tell you because I thought you should know, and, uh, well..."

     If her thought process wasn't already jumbled enough as it was, Jack holding her shoulder and kissing her cheek was definitely enough to make it all collapse entirely. She could feel the flush that covered her freckled face as she looked at Jack, who was smiling up at her.

     "I like you too you silly squid. You are the kindest inkling I have ever met and I am really glad we got to know each other. You make me very, very happy and I am glad you are my best friend, and I'd be glad to call you my girlfriend, if you are okay with that?"

     "I-" Pixel fumbled, her thoughts still all over the place, "I, yes! Yes, I am okay with that if you are."

     Jack wrapped her arms around Pixel and drew her close, enveloping her in a hug. "Absolutely, Pixel." She returned the hug and closed her eyes as she felt hands rubbing her back. "I hope it's not too soon to say it, but I love you, you make me so happy and I love you."

    Her smile grew wider as she hugged her just a little bit tighter "I love you too, Jack."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT (8-1-16): Oh yeah I feel like I should mention, the bubbler-inkstrike thing that I wrote about actually happened to me in a game once! I must have been in just the right spot, because I ended up just above the top of the apartments at Flounder Heights. It was pretty neat!
> 
> Wow, okay, so first of all I would really, really like to apologize for the huge delay on updates! Life just happened (and I mean life REALLY happened), but I'm finally at a place again where I felt like I could continue this. I would always think about it but I was either too busy, just having a rough time mentally, or some combination of the two. I'm really glad to have this finished now though, and though my writing isn't where I would like it to be, I'm very proud of myself for coming around to finish this even though it's been so long. It's finished and that's what counts to me!
> 
> Thank you all so much for the kind comments and support you've given, it really has made my day and I'm glad others enjoy these two silly characters I made. I really think I will continue to write about them when I have time, short little stories that continue on after the point this leaves off, but for now thank you again so very much for reading this story. Splatoon is one of my greatest joys in life, and I'm glad I got to make something for it.
> 
> Threw in a real quick doodle at the end too for the heck of it. Very sketchy but ah well. I like it!
> 
> Anyhow, enough of me rambling in the end notes, have a good one and stay fresh everybody!

**Author's Note:**

> So, this may or may not be something I continue. I'd really like to continue it, but that may not end up happening, so for now, just take this!
> 
> I've fallen so deep into Splatoon it's taking over my life.


End file.
